This Australian ad for Lipton tea suggests that it’s mind clarifying qualities are so good that it could help even George Bush achieve the feat of naming all 50 states.
This Brazilian ad for Rolling Stone, featuring a picture of George W. Bush, reads: “We don’t show naked women to sell more. At the most, we show some asses.”
This Chinese Greenpeace ad, portraying Bush’s spin on global warming, reads: “Everyone’s entitled to an opinion. Voice yours at forum.greenpeace.org.”
This Chinese ad for an erasable pen reads: “Everyone makes mistakes.”
In Malaysia, Bush is used to sell Smart cars. Text: “Still looking for weapons of mass destruction. Not smart.”
Also in Malaysia, Amnesty International makes fun of Bush in their effort to inspire opposition to Guantanamo Bay. “Write to him and help stop torture at Guantanamo Bay. Remember, use simple words.”
This is a Mexican ad for a dog kennel. “We don’t discriminate any kind of breed.” (The source says that, in Mexico, like in the U.S., “dog” is a name for a bad person.)
This ad for a Mexican newspaper reads: “Such a complex world needs a good explanation.”
This is an ad for the movie American Psycho in New Zealand.
In Portugal, playing war games (paint ball) is advertised as equivalent to playing George W. Bush.
This Swiss ad threatens, if you fall off your bicycle without a helmet, you may end up as dumb as George W. Bush.
These and more borrowed from here, found via adfreak.
Update: There have been some really nice points in the comments about how, in the process of making fun of Bush, we are also seeing the further stigmatization of “people with developmental disabilities, brain injuries, and psychological diagnoses” (that from Penny in the comments).
Comments 5
ShellyD — May 16, 2008
It's so confusing. I loathe the man but now I'm actually...embarrassed for him. Too much emotional complexity! Too early in the morning!
Penny — May 16, 2008
Some of these are fair enough for ad copy. But using the word "Psycho" or implying that the man must have brain damage (the last one)... and *that's* a reason to detest someone, avoid being like them, laugh at them? That's disablism, folks. Even in edgy fonts, even for comic effect.
Mariya — May 16, 2008
It's not that he's an idiot, its that he's an idiot in public office...
Penny — May 16, 2008
Yeah, I've heard that defense of such language many times, but I'm not buying it. It's still using metaphors of disability to condemn someone as ridiculous and detestable. This common usage, even among otherwise hip writers and speakers, still stigmatizes people with developmental disabilities, brain injuries, and psychological diagnoses.
Check out Wheelchair Dancer's "On Making Argument: Disability and Language":
http://cripwheels.blogspot.com/2008/04/on-making-argument-disability-and.html
RRsafety — May 16, 2008
Its pretty disgusting when you have regimes like the Chinese communists, the Burmese, the Iranians, the Saudis, the Sudanese and other similar regimes getting by scott free from organizations like those above but instead direct their hate toward a a democratically elected leader.... welcome to the future.